Had the pleasure of sitting through a presentation by Eduardo Conrado, Corporate VP of Global Business & Technology for Motorola at the Business Marketing Association annual meeting today. Most in attendance were amazed that 50% of Motorola's revenues come from B2B ($36.6 billion in total revenues, $18 billion in B2B). They are #1 or #2 in market share in 80% of their B2B customer segments.
There were some really interesting stats and takeaways from this presentation on Motorola B2B Marketing. The key takeaway is that Motorola is investing in the creation and execution of valuable and relevant content (mostly online) to become a trusted partner and resource to customers.
Here are the highlights:
- According to Eduardo, Motorola's key challenge right now is communicating technology trends to the specific needs of their customers. They define all their businesses today by customer segment, not by product. In selling their solutions, they start with the needs of the customer, and then look for an overall solution, that may combine new solutions with those from their current portfolio.
- The two most important objectives for Motorola in getting new business: 1) Customers must trust Motorola first and 2) Motorola must show the human element (not the technology) in order to sell products and services.
Key Statistics that Motorola has Found in Their Marketing
- 80% of technology buyers use the web as their primary purchasing decision tool.
- 85% of business managers turn to search engines first.
- The #1 reason technology buyers visit the web: case studies and white papers.
Online is the Key for Motorola
- Motorola has increased headcount five-fold in the last few years.
- All campaigns now start with the online component first.
- Motorola's B2B site gets 1.3 million visitors per month. 34% get there through search engines (Eduardo feels this should be higher).
Content Tools Drive Conversion
With every type of demand generation activity (PR, Events, SEO/SEM, Advertising, Direct Marketing) there is a specific tool and landing page to tell the story. These include microsites, video showcases, video libraries, ezines (digital magazines), online communities, and widgets. From these, they look to convert information seekers into prospects to get through to the sales cycle.
Content Examples (specific to the Government Market)
Video Case Studies: Motorola has a huge library of video case studies. For each one, customers can also download a pdf version of the written study, as well as share with colleagues. Users spend an average of 8 minutes on the site.
This linked example is a YouTube type system that will bring up relevant videos based on vertical segment.
Motorola eZine: 17% open rate, 48% click-through rate. Users spend an average of 17 minutes on the eZine site.
Motorola Second Nature: This is a virtual city specific to government decision-makers (fire fighters, police, FBI, government IT and more). This is a digital experience that provides real-world examples of how these decision-makers can best leverage technology to get their jobs done. Worth the trip to see this.
With the computer-generated examples comes links to real-life videos, case studies and white papers of how actual companies are dealing with the same kinds of issues.
How They Do It?
Motorola has aligned with "best-in-class" agencies to help them create and execute these content programs. They also have 300 business-side marketers which doesn't hurt either.
Three Corporate Objectives
Motorola's three key business marketing goals are:
- Differentiated positioning (address customer need for each segment)
- Distinct, flexible creative platform
- Cutting-edge marketing mix (create tools for their customers)
Summary
- Everything Motorola does revolves around the customer. They align by customer segments (needs), not products.
- Online first. Print and events are integrated, but the plan and creative are pulled from online.
- All marketing leads to the creation of informational tools for customers segments. Online content marketing drives everything for Motorola.
Relevant Articles
- The Future of B2B Marketing - Ed Abrams from IBM
- Microsite Scorecard - Citi, Fidelity, IBM
- Microsite Scorecard - Chevron, Shell, FedEx
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